The French Garnishes: Sautéed Mushrooms In Butter & Caramelized Pearl Onions 奶油炒蘑菇與焦糖小洋蔥

Very often in French comfort food, like Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew In red wine), Coq au Vin (chicken in red wine), Poulet Roti (roasted chicken), etc., you will see mushrooms and pearl onions among the ingredients. You might think that all the vegetables were cooked together, but in fact it's not what it appears; they're actually supposed to be cooked separately! Some of the ingredients such as the onions and celery are typically discarded after cooking, since they tend to get mushy. Once the sauce of the dish is ready, this is when you add the garnishes with everything else before serving.

I love how in French cuisine you add garnishes to have the right texture. It's more work, more time, and even a little wasteful, but to me, that is the art and beauty of the classic French cooking - everything is cooked to perfection. Here, I'll show you how to make two of the most classic garnishes: sauteed mushrooms in butter and caramelized pearl onions. You can even make them ahead of time and just add them to your dish before reheating!

不知道大家有沒有注意到很多法式料理裡面都會放有蘑菇與珍珠洋蔥(pearl onion)搭襯，例如Boeuf Bourguignon (紅酒燉牛肉)、Coq au Vin (紅酒燉雞)、與Poulet Rôti (法式烤雞) 等等，您可能會以為所有的蔬菜都和肉一起煮到熟，那是錯誤的！其實很多時候，那些蘑菇與小洋蔥都是分開煮的，然後在完成那道菜之前才加進去。由於法國菜講 求完美無缺，那些與肉一起慢煮到的菜，像洋蔥、西洋芹都是用來入味的，往往在煮完後因為太爛而被丟棄。雖然這樣的煮法比較費工夫、花時間又捨奓，但是我有 時候卻很喜歡這般講究的法式烹煮方式。在這裡，我將教大家如何完美的做這兩樣常見的裝飾(garniture)。您可以提前把它們做好，再加入您想要享用 的法式料理或其它料理加熱一起食用，想在家做出道地與完美的法國菜，一點也不難喔！ (｡´∀｀)ﾉ

  

  

Sautéed Mushrooms In Butter

1 lb mushrooms

A: 1 T      butter

    1/2 T   grapeseed oil

sea salt and pepper

1. Wipe the dirt off the mushrooms with a damp cloth or paper towel.

2. Trim off the stems of the mushrooms. If the mushrooms are small, you can just leave them whole as they are; if they're large, halve or quarter them.

3. Heat ingredients A in a pan, add the mushrooms and sauté them until golden brown and all the released liquid is evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.

奶油炒蘑菇

蘑菇 450g

A: 奶油        1 大匙

    葡萄籽油   1/2 大匙

海鹽與黑胡椒

1. 以稍微沾有水的濕布或濕紙巾擦去蘑菇上面的污垢。

2. 將蘑菇梗的底部稍微切除。如果您的蘑菇較小，可以不用切；若蘑菇體型較大，將它們切成一半或四分之一等份。

3. 在鍋中將A加熱，加入蘑菇炒至水份收乾且變金黃。撒上少許鹽與胡椒即可。

                                                                                               - Yvonne

Here, I used cremini mushrooms. They have more flavour than button mushrooms, so I tend to use them more, if I can find them. The down side is that they usually cost a little more.

圖片中，我使用的是大褐菇。跟一般蘑菇比起來它比較美味，所以我儘量會選擇它來使用，但是價錢也比較高一些 

You can certainly use button mushrooms as well. Both the button mushrooms and cremini mushrooms are actually from the same variety, except that the cremini mushrooms are more aged.

也可以使用一般的白蘑菇。大家知不知道大褐菇與白蘑菇其實都是一樣的品種，只不過大褐菇是比較老的

 

Since  the button mushroom has higher water content, you'll find that it releases more liquid during cooking. You must make sure all the liquid is evaporated, so it can brown.

由於一般的蘑菇含水份比較高，煮了之後會出比較多水，一定要煮至水份收乾才會開始上色

Caramelized Pearl Onions

1 lb pearl onions, peeled

A: 1 T    butter

    1 t    sugar

sea salt

1. Transfer the pearl onions into a pot and cover with just enough water. Cover the pot partially and bring it to a boil. *If you happen to have some beef broth, you can mix a little bit in with the water, the resulting flavour would be even better!

2. When the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes until just tender.

3. Pour out most of the liquid (leaving about 1 tablespoon), add ingredients A and a little sea salt to the pot.

4. Turn the heat to medium low, stirring the onions or shaking the pan every once in a while until the onions are caramelized on all sides. *This will take approximately 10 minutes. Make sure you really watch them so they don't burn.  

焦糖小洋蔥

 

小洋蔥 450g……撥去外皮

A: 奶油   1 大匙

    糖      1 小匙

海鹽、黑胡椒

1. 將小洋蔥與一小搓海鹽放入一個中型的鍋中，倒入足夠的水以淹過小洋蔥，並稍微蓋上鍋蓋煮滾。*若有牛肉高湯，可以加入一點，煮出來味道會更好喔~

2. 滾後以小火煮10-12 分鐘至熟軟。

3. 將大部分的液體倒出，留下約1大匙。加入A料與一點海鹽、黑胡椒放入鍋中。

4. 以中小火繼續煮，每20秒就攪拌一下或搖晃鍋子，直到小洋蔥整顆變焦黃並散發出香氣。*這個動作大約要10分鐘，要有耐心慢慢翻炒上色，火開太大容易變焦。

                                                                                               - Yvonne

In the photo, I cut a piece of parchment paper and put it over the surface of the water, but you can also just partially cover the pot with a lid during cooking. It's a French technique I learned when I was in school.

在照片中，我剪了張羊皮紙蓋在水面上，但是也可以在煮的時候稍微蓋上鍋蓋

Insert a knife to check if the onions are done. (If it goes in easily, they're done.)

如果刀子可以插入，應該就可以了

The butter and sugar give the pearl onions a shiny, yummy coating.

加了奶油與糖之後的小洋蔥，外表會看起來比較亮

Sauté the pearl onions slowly over medium low heat. As they start to caramelize a little, the oniony and sugary smell will also come out more and more!

在慢慢翻炒之後，那層奶油與糖霜將慢慢的變焦黃，味道也會越來越香 (^～^)